Book review: Love Wins

This is Bell’s controversial masterpiece about “heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived.” Love, says this internationally influential pastor, wins in the end … and nobody has to go to hell.

God wants all people to be saved. Will God get what He wants?

Of Bell’s works, I’ve read only this and Velvet Elvis, though I have three more in my review stack. I’ll be spreading them out over the next few months. I confess that too much Bell, with his colloquial rah-rah style, might push me off the deep end, but in Love Wins, the message overcomes the style and earns five stars. I also feel the book is very well organized, leading inexorably to a logical conclusion.

That said, this book does not probe any deep theological arguments. It’s far too short for that. It’s a common-sense approach to a troubling question: Can God be both loving and vengeful?

Actually, Bell’s book is chock full of questions! It makes you think about your perception of Jesus, of God, and of His eternal plan. Bell says, “Often times when I meet atheists and we talk about the god they don’t believe in, we quickly discover that I don’t believe in that god either.” When we hear that a certain person has rejected Christ, we should probably first ask, “Which Christ?” The antiscience, antigay one standing out on the sidewalk with his bullhorn, telling people that they’re going to burn forever? Or the one who invites everyone to share in his heaven?

Which invites another question. Which heaven? The one far away, a dream of eternal bliss, or the one Jesus constantly spoke of, here, now, on this earth? Bell’s “heaven” is very “earthy,” rightly recognizing that Jesus spoke not of a place but of an age … an age where God dwells with his people, on this earth. Bell is not denying an afterlife, he simply is putting the focus where Jesus did: the now.

But what about hell? Well, there’s plenty of hell on earth now, too. Surprisingly, not everyone prefers heaven. Love wins, and we get whatever we want. But over and over and over, God speaks of restoration … helping those who have slipped into hell back on their feet and back into heaven.

That’s God’s agenda. So here we are at a final question: Does this magnificent, mighty, marvelous God fail in the end?

2 Comments

Nice comments on “Love Wins.” After I read the book, I felt it is a good read for people who’ve been threatened with hell. I figure God won’t fail in the end because God didn’t fail in the beginning. All the “fallen” “hellish” concepts are what fail human beings. Although light and fluffy, “Love Wins” can iron out a few wrinkles of doctrine bound to fail.Thanks

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The River of Life

Twice before Lee Harmon has written about Christian topics, once on the gospel of John and once on the book of Revelation. But the question people keep asking him is this: As a liberal Christian, why do you care so much about the Bible? Others wonder whether he is truly a Christian at all.

The Way It Happened

What really happened 2,000 years ago? How did a persecuted minority of end-time believers known as Christians, with their dreams of Armageddon and a conquering Messiah named Jesus, evolve into the largest religion in the world? Author Lee Harmon explores the period in which the New Testament was written in his books about John's Gospel and Revelation.

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Hello! I'm an author, historical Jesus scholar, book reviewer, and liberal Christian, which means I appreciate and attempt to exercise the humanitarian teachings of Jesus without getting hung up on any particular supernatural or religious beliefs.
The Bible is a magnificent book that has inspired and spiritually fed generations for thousands of years, and each new century seems to bring a deeper understanding of life’s purpose. This is true of not only Christianity; through the years, our age-old religions are slowly transforming from superstitious rituals into humanitarian philosophies. In short, we are growing up, and I am thrilled to be riding the wave.
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